Even when the best laid plans go awry, art has a tendency to find its way. Indie-folk singer-songwriter Cat Clyde was set to record and self-produce her third album in a rural Quebec cabin, the perfect setting to capture her contemplative nature-inspired musings. But that natural setting, or, more specifically, mould that infiltrated the cabin, forced Clyde to change location. On short notice she headed to Los Angeles to record with producer Tony Berg (Phoebe Bridgers, Amythyst Kiah) and less than a week later she had completed the tracks for Down Rounder, a deliciously textured 10-song album that captures the urgent energy of its swift birth. L.A. may be as spiritually removed as Clyde could have gotten from that mould-laden cabin in the woods, but her songs and delivery transcend mere geography.

Down Rounder is a stealthy powerhouse of an album, with Clyde’s remarkable voice doing the heavy lifting. While she falls firmly into the dreamy country-folk spectrum Clyde shows remarkable range, with glimpses of rock and blues scattered throughout. From the heartbreakingly gentle to radio-friendly earworms to a fierce call-out of colonialism Clyde can slide from style to style, but is always undoubtedly grounded. It’s a full band affair, but that voice — alluring and warm, with both a purr and an edge — is front and centre, where it belongs.

— Elizabeth Chorney-Booth